Eagles roll Griffins, lose to Mavericks

Last weekend, the Eagles played its first home games in two weeks against the Westminster College Griffins, Salt Lake City, and Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction. The Eagles hoped to keep the momentum up after coming off a successful New Mexico trip where they picked up two decisive victories, putting themselves in sixth place in the Rocky Mountain division of the RMAC. The Eagles faced off against the Griffins in the first game of the weekend in another blowout win for the team.

Offensively, Stephanie Knowles, senior of Colorado Springs, Colorado, led the Eagles with 17 points shooting 8 of 13 from the field and 1 of 2 shooting from the free-throw line in her 35 minutes of play.  Maka Daysh, sophomore of Tauranga, New Zealand, was the second leading scorer with 16 points shooting 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line in her 34 minutes of play. The duo combined for 33 of the teams total 71 points which accounted for 46.4 percent of the total points.

The Eagles also managed to dish out 18 assists on 30 baskets. Kayla Matthews, sophomore of Adelaide, Australia, led the Eagles in assists, dishing out six, while Knowles handed out five.

The Eagles made their mark on defense, only allowing 58 points and only giving the Griffins six points in one quarter. They managed to hold the Griffins to 38 percent shooting from the field but struggled to guard at the 3-point line, allowing the Griffins shoot 50 percent.

Daysh led the attack collecting 10 rebounds, eight defensively, and she also tied for blocks leader.

Daysh, Knowles, and Allegria Chisom, senior of Wichita, Kansas, each managed to collect one block apiece. The Eagles also managed to collect eight steals, six from Knowles; Erin Graham, junior of Deland, Florida; and Keeley Pearce, freshman of Adelaide, Australia, who each accounted for two. The Eagles solid defense led to another impressive win, 71-58.

Eagles tried to pick up another clean sweep of the weekend, but the Mavericks outperformed the Eagles.

Offensively, the Eagles struggled shooting the entire game, going 29.3 percent from the field and zero 3-pointers.

Even with the team’s poor shooting performance, Daysh managed to shoot 58 percent  from the field, scoring 16 points shooting 7 of 12 from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line. She was the only Eagle to score in double figures. The Eagles did manage to dish out 10 assists on 12 total baskets. Knowles managed to lead the team in assists with four.

Defensively, the Eagles struggled to keep the Mavericks from scoring the ball, allowing them to shoot 44 percent from both the field and the 3-point line. Daysh led all rebounders with nine, being just one away from collecting her second double-double of the weekend, and Knowles also managed to grab five rebounds. In the process, she also managed to collect one block, and one steal which tied her with two other Eagles for steals leader. Besides the shooting woes, turnovers clipped the Eagles. CSC suffered 16 turnovers while the Mavericks had 10. But the Eagles could only score seven points off turnovers while the Mavericks scored 28. The poor shooting led to the 72-40 loss.

The Eagles will play the Adams State University Grizzlies and the Fort Lewis College SkyHawks this weekend on the road.